Cold War Kids

Hailing from sunny California, the Cold War Kids are no strangers to releasing EPs. Since 2004, the indie rock band, consisting of Nathan Willett (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Jonnie Russell (guitar, vocals), Matt Maust (bass) and Matt Aveiro (drums), have released nine EPs as well as two full length albums, Robbers and Cowards and Loyalty to Loyalty. Their newest EP Behave Yourself is currently available on iTunes and will be released on CD/Vinyl on January 19^th.

The five track EP’s artwork tells a tale of the songs, reading, “These songs were recorded some time between “Loyalty" and now. They didn’t belong there but kept hanging around, started trouble, made friends, and insisted they be heard." The tracks may not have belonged in Loyalty to Loyalty but appear to have nicely found their place on Behave Yourself.

The EP kick starts with “Audience," one of the more blues inspired tracks and then is followed by “Coffee Spoon," a tune with melancholy undertones that almost sounds like early Kings of Leon. The third track “Santa Ana Winds" is pleasurable to the ears just for the undeniable catchy nature of the beat and the overall progression of percussion and vocals. “Sermons" is soulfully inspired and Dylan-esque while “Baby Boy" (only available on the CD, not iTunes) is a unique blend of beats and blues.

Overall, the Cold War Kids have seemed to make something out of nothing by combining these five diverse songs and turning them into a cohesive EP. The boys will be promoting Behave Yourself for four days at the end of January so check out the following tour dates:

1/22- LA- The Wiltern
1/23- San Francisco- The Fillmore
1/29- NY- Terminal 5
1/30- Chicago- The Vic Theatre

Check it out at Kiwibox.com here.

Motion City Soundtrack

Check out my Kiwibox.com interview with Motion City Soundtrack here! (One of my favorite bands, ever)

Goodies!

Check out these songs that are currently helping me get through the work day :)

Fun - "All the Pretty Girls"
After The Format broke up, front man Nate Ruess joined this literally "fun" band.



Cold War Kids- "Audience"
Read my full review of their new EP here.



Wakey! Wakey!- "Brooklyn"
Michael Grubbs is genius.



Free Energy- "Free Energy"
Here's a 70's inspired indie band from Philadelphia.

Oh, those Hipsters.

"Hipsters are the friends who sneer when you cop to liking Coldplay. They're the people who wear t-shirts silk-screened with quotes from movies you've never heard of and the only ones in America who still think Pabst Blue Ribbon is a good beer. They sport cowboy hats and berets and think Kanye West stole their sunglasses. Everything about them is exactingly constructed to give off the vibe that they just don't care."
— Time Magazine, July 2009

The term "hipster" came up frequently this weekend as I walked the streets of New York City and spent some time in New Brunswick, NJ--both hipster centrals. (Thank god I didn't go anywhere near Brooklyn). As two friends and I tried to explain to another friend what the word even meant, I got to thinking about the history of the term and the people. It made me wonder, why would anyone want to label themselves as a "hipster" or anything really?

According to Wikipedia, the term first originated in the 1940s during the jazz age. The original hipsters were white young people who were trying to be like the black jazz musicians that they admired. However, after World War 2, literary geniuses Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg expanded the movement by coining themselves hipsters as well as founders of the Beat Generation. The movement actually gained a definition, though, when writer Norman Mailer referred to hipsters as one who chooses to "divorce oneself from society, to exist without roots, to set out on that uncharted journey into the rebellious imperatives of the self." The history of "hipster" seems really awesome and it probably was, considering the times and the social limitations.

Ginsberg in the 1950s-ish

But today, in 2009, "hipster" has become something else entirely. Hipsters only listen to underground indie or alternative rock and only watch indie films. They are usually vegetarians or vegans and have to eat organic, locally grown foods. They drink cheap beer and wear skinny jeans. They read more books than anyone (or so they think) and have a liberal arts major or liberal arts career.

WELL, if that is the criteria, one may argue that I (and a lot of people I know) am similar to a hipster. I love underground music and indie films. I don't really eat red meat too often and organic foods swarm my kitchen. I love Coors Light and I wear skinny jeans. I read a shitload of books and graduated as a Journalism and English major.

BUT what sets people like me apart from hipsters? We like other things too! We love all types of music as well as indie because its genuinely good. We like popular films and we drink cheap beer because we like it, not because we're "starving" artists. We read shitty books sometimes and we wear whatever we like, not what we're supposed to like.

And the funny thing is, hipsters do all that too, they're just scared to admit it because then, god forbid, they might not be "cool". It just seems as if they're trying too hard to be a subculture that is different but they are all just the same. They might end up being in the same lame category as guidos soon.

Something that originated from rebellion has turned pretentious. Anyone disagree? I love hearing new theories!

Am I ga-ga for Lady Gaga?

According to SPIN.com 2009 Readers’ Poll, Lady Gaga was voted Best New Artist, won Video of the Year for “Bad Romance” and was runner up for Artist of the Year behind Pearl Jam. This comes as no surprise, however, because it is impossible to turn on the radio, the tv or glance at a computer screen without hearing or seeing (barely) Lady Gaga. Her outlandish fashion sense, disturbing music videos and random lyrics (ga-ga-ooh-la-la?) have left me in a state of confusion. Do I despise her or do I love her?

Why I may love her…

In general, a lot of the music that is popular at one time tends to all sound the same. Of course, there are the musical greats that save the airwaves, but forget about those few for a minute. In the late 90s, there were about 7.5 million boy bands out singing about broken hearts while the rest of the singers were blonde and naked. (P.S. I love ‘Nsync and Britney but that’s beside the point). Now, boy bands have turned into Disney movie sensations and synth-pop boys crying about fireflies (I like that song too but that’s also beside the point). If one thing is liked just a little, then all the sudden, we are bombarded by 5 thousand versions of that one thing. Shitty vampire craze, anyone? I miss Buffy.



Anyway, the whole point is in this society filled with trends and fads, we thrive on innovation and Lady Gaga is undoubtedly innovative. She brings something different to the table; she adds some flavor and excitement. She doesn’t have the greatest voice or the most intelligent lyrics but neither did Madonna and look at her. Madonna was awesome because of her uniqueness and her ability to be talented beyond lyrics and voice but through creativity.



Plus, I always really make fun of Lady Gaga’s weird songs at first and then suddenly, I’m drunk dancing at a bar and her song comes on and I have this epiphany as the beat infiltrates my body: “Wait…I think I love this song!”.




Why I’m not sure…

She is so fucking weird. I hate to say that because everyone is weird in their own way but she is SO fucking weird. Why are you wearing Kermit the frog dolls all over your body as a dress? Why is blood coming from your eyeballs during your VMA performance? AND What the hell does your face look like? What are you trying to hide? I can’t help but think that she may be trying too hard to be different, to stand out and that's not innovative, that's just phony. UNLESS she is actually fucking weird. In that case, I’ll forgive her.



What do you guys think? Are YOU going gaga over GAGA?

Happy New Year!!

First off, here is my disclaimer: I may have lied about this blog being strictly “indie”. I have tried (for the sake of consistency) but I simply cannot limit my tastes. I am a woman of versatility, in all aspects of my life, so don’t be surprised to find an entry about the great Jay-Z or The Counting Crows (one of my favorite bands of all time) or maybe even Taylor Swift (random, I know.)

As we begin to embark upon 2010, I want to look back on the past ten years and point out the artists, songs and albums that truly made an impact on my life and maybe yours. Amidst all the shit that may have deafened you on the radio or on TV, there was greatness. Here is a list of just SOME of the most fabulous artists of the past decade:

Coldplay- Yellow 2001


Jay Z- The Blueprint 2001

John Mayer- Room for Squares- 2001


Red Hot Chili Peppers- By the Way (LP) 2002


Death Cab for Cutie- Transatlanticism 2003


and

Plans 2005


Bloc Party –Silent Alarm 2005


Justin Timberlake-(Thank you for bringing) Sexy Back-2006


Tegan and Sara- The Con 2007


Feist-The Reminder 2007

…and the one album I couldn’t live without from this decade:

Garden State Soundtrack 2004